Qingguan

Commander Xi stood on the tallest tower of the imperial military barracks. His face is a reflection of hell itself yet it bore no physical imperfections. He wore a silk black hanfu with golden motifs designs. His dark eyes are enough to instill a sweeping sense of fear in the one who looks into them. There is a black jade ring on the third finger of his right hand which he never takes off. His hair is black with a few steaks of grey; put up neatly in a bun and held by a golden ornamented headpiece.

He looked grimly outside the vast sprawling training area when a eunuch entered and spoke bowing,

"Da Jiangjun! Yin furen has arrived."

Commander Xi took a deep breath and replied, "Let her in."

The eunuch bowed and left and after a while, Yin entered. She went down on her knees and greeted the Commander. He turned around and gloomily asked her to stand up. Then he proceeded to speak.

"Since when my finest warrior started to fail in her missions?"

Yin kept her head down and spoke, "I offer my deepest apology fuqin."

Commander, "Will your verbal apology solve the mess that has been created? Or will it magically capture the chosen ones and bring them to me?"

Yin, " No fuqin. I will set for the mission again and will not fail this time."

Commander, "You better not, my daughter. I absolutely hate to see my efforts go waste because you became weak."

He came closer to Yin, grabbed her chin, and lifted it up in a mild forceful manner. His eyes flickered a bit of red glow and black lines started to appear on his neck giving him a fearful demon-like appearance. He then hissed to her in a coarse voice,

"My dear Yin, after, all I did to make you what you are today, failure is not what I want from you. The pains and efforts I put to make you so powerful you will not repay me with the disappointment of failure. Consider this as your first and last warning."

With that, he let go of her face and his appearance returned to normal. He then lightly embraced Yin who stood still without any reaction and spoke again, this time with a softer tone,

"Have a drink with your father, Yin."

She bowed and proceeded to share a drink with the Commander. While sipping on the wine the Commander spoke again, pointing his right hand at Yin

"Do you know how many people have fallen under this hand?"

Yin, "No fuqin."

Commander, giving out a laugh, "I don't know either. Never actually counted. I have a dream Yin. And this world seems not enough for it."

He turned towards her and said, "How much do you know about the Shadow?"

Yin, "Not much. I heard it's ancient and powerful…enough to wipe out the world."

Commander, in a slightly obsessive tone, "Yes but it needs a vessel. With the right vessel, it is unstoppable."

Yin, "But fuqin, what about the prophecy?"

Commander, " Ahhh those little beings. Yes, the only glitch in my way."

Yin, "Your way?"

Commander, avoiding her question, said,

"I want you by my side my daughter when I fulfill my destiny. I need the Shadow for myself. The power it will give me will transcend the Dark Realm itself. You have to be there for me."

Yin, standing up and bowing, "I will be there by your side fuqin."

Commander, smiling tilting his head, "Off you go then. Rest for the day. Leave tomorrow and remember…..do not return empty-handed. Your new assassins are ready. Have a look."

Yin bowed deeply and made her exit. After exiting she ordered the vice general to lead her to the barracks to see her new assassins. Yin strode through the huge hallways and stairs of the tower out into the barracks. They walked for some time and reached a secluded area which is built exclusively for special training. As Yin stepped into the area there were black uniform-clad men practicing and they swiftly gathered in front of her, bowing greeted her in unison. Yin spoke without any reaction,

"We leave at dawn. Be ready."

She left for her chamber retiring for the day. Yin's chamber was like a gloomy place. It is neatly organized but there was nothing except her clothes and weapons. She does not like being attended to by maids or servants and does her own thing. The servants are not allowed in her chambers except for serving food. The cleaning and maintenance are done in her absence. Yin's bath has been prepared before she arrived. She came back to her room; closed the door and took off her weapons and kept them on the side. The room smelled like amber due to the incense burners burning. Yin has a thing for the smell of amber. During her early childhood Commander Xi made her undergo several magical experiments in the secret underground vault room. The place is huge where he conducts all kinds of magical experiments, concocting magical potions and poisons. It happens so that sometimes poisons, are made to smell good to deceive the victim hence amber is widely used along with other fragrances. Normally amber is something that is associated with driving away negative energy through mind purification but there are ways to use it as a concealing aroma for poisons. However, Yin got herself so accustomed to the fragrance that she uses it in the incense burner all the time and that's why she smells like one.

Yin stood in front of the huge mirror and took off her clothes. She was tall, had several scars on her body including one on her left cheek, and a toned abdomen, her dirty brown hair fell flowingly covering her back which usually was put up in tiny braids. Her breasts and buttocks were in perfect proportion with her stout physique. She was quite dirty as there were very rare occasions when she can bathe. After taking off her clothes she proceeded to soak herself in the bathtub that has been previously prepared. The water made her feel light and she closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. Her mind reeled back to the night she spent with the princess of Erkhet. Yin never had any slightest amount emotional showoffs ever in her life, yet with Mihre she could but help but think of her. The woman was ethereal yet intense and definitely not weak at all. The steamy scenes of intense love making re-played in her mind. Mihre's enticing words which showed her admiration for Yin had a striking effect on her. She could not possibly think of anyone who can actually admire a vicious person like her. Then suddenly her mind went back to that woman who saved her life while trying to kill her. Along with that the foggy memory started to play in her mind again. With the eyes closed tight she slowly started to drown in that memory. Giggles of laughter, two girls, one older and another younger than her. The foggy figures of those two little girls played with wooden swords. They fought and clasped their hands in the end. The scene abruptly changed with a fresh memory appearing. It was chaos, people were being killed. Yin can feel that she herself was in that scene. There was this older girl crying profusely holding her hands. She herself was crying as well. Then suddenly someone came taking them away from each other. The crying grew louder with the girls refusing to let go of their hands.

The older girl screamed, "Adi..." and at the same time Yin found herself screaming back, "Di…".

Yin gasped and coughed getting out of the water, as she slowly got drowned in while immersed in her thoughts. She clumsily got up wrapping up in the towel feeling dizzy and shocked by such memories unfolding. She was confused and baffled. Adi? Who is Adi and why did it feel like it was she herself? And this older girl who she called Di. Who is she?

Yin called in a eunuch and ordered him to bring her some wine and meat for supper. Since her mind was in shambles she ordered something else to calm this baffling state of mind. She stood half naked in front of the eunuch who grew red seeing Yin furen in such a state. But Yin didn't pay any heed to him and calmly said,

" Bring me a soldier tonight. And prepare him properly. Make sure he is strong down there because he has to stay here for the night."

The eunuch bowed and said, "Shi, Yin furen", and left.

Soon the wine and food arrived. Yin ate her supper and was drinking her wine scantily dressed standing near the window watching the night sky. There was a knock on the door and the eunuch entered with a man prepared as per Yin's orders and left him. Since everyone was aware of Yin's sexuality it was not a shock for anyone if they suddenly be called to serve the infamous assassin. The man seemed calm and steady and bowed to Yin who approached him drunkenly. She then finished the wine jar and set it aside before pushing him onto the bed slowly stripping him off his clothes. The guy lay completely naked. Yin then proceed to hold his member in her hand and started to stroke it slowly yet intensely. Within seconds the guy was as hard as a rock. Seeing his erection standing like a rock Yin proceeded to slip the cloth that was covering her body. Naked she spread her legs and sat on him taking the hard shaft deep within her. The thing was so hard that Yin being not intimate with a man for a long time, felt that she grew tighter and let out a whimper as the thing pierced her. The guy was drowned in pleasure yet since it was Yin with him he kind of hesitated to be himself fearing any consequences. Yin understood his dilemma and while she rose and fell taking his erection in and out of her, she told him to have it in his way. With that, the guy immediately let him loose and started to caress Yin while he lay on his back. He grabbed her breasts and kneaded them in his hands. Yin sped up her pace and the guy left her breasts to support her buttocks. Yin then stopped and lifted herself into a sitting position by supporting her lower legs. In this way, the whole thing around which they were connected was fully visible to the guy. Yin herself cocked her head downwards and watched the act along with the guy. This made both crazy even more and after a few thrusts he sat up and now they both kneaded with each other making the wetness spread all over. He then proceeded to grasp Yin's breast again and sucked madly on the hardened nipple. Yin's mind went blank with pleasure and she whimpered softly throwing her head backward; eyes closed.

But suddenly the night she spent with Mihre flashed in her mind. She thought of Mihre's breasts and how she sucked on them like an addict; how she worked on her wet area with her fingers and she squirted violently with pleasure. The way Mihre looked, naked and drenched in sweat and squirting with eyes full of desire made Yin lose her excitement in the present act and she stopped, pushing the guy out of her way. He dare not say anything. Yin then picked up the cloth on the floor and wrapped it around her. She paused and turned around the guy was sitting quietly covering his thing as he was still not relieved.

Yin, casually said, "What are you waiting for? Leave."

The poor guy somehow gathered his clothes wrapping them around him and hastily left. Yin came lying down on her bed and went to sleep.

The grandeur of the huge throne room of the Shaoyao Palace was a sight to behold. Emperor Haoran was seated on the throne. The Commander was on his seat on the right side of the throne. The atmosphere was grim and serious. The emperor spoke,

"So what have you planned?"

Commander Xi, "I am sending Yin again to get hold of the chosen ones. But more than that the princess of Erkhet troubles me more."

Emperor Haoran, "Princess Mihre? What threat could she possibly hold to us?"

Commander Xi, "The princess is not what she looks Huangshan. I have received news that the Governor of Hengxin died under mysterious circumstances after she visited him on an official urgency."

Emperor Haoran, "She killed him? But how?"

Commander Xi, "She did not kill him apparently. But this is Erkhet we are talking about. Huangshan knows about their shrewdness. It is just that they hold a lot for us to subdue them."

Emperor Haoran, " So how do you propose we deal with them?"

Commander Xi, "Nothing. I believe Erkhet will lead us to the chosen ones. And once I capture them the prophecy can be stopped."

The Commander left bowing to the Emperor, whose expression grew worrisome watching the most dangerous aura leaving as he can feel the ominousness of the person who helped him secure the throne, quite terrifying.